TORRANCE, Calif. (CNS) -- Police were still piecing together Sunday what caused a crowd of 500 people to start fighting in one of the largest shopping malls in the nation. A unruly crowd of about 500 people was brought under control by an estimated 100 police officers, one of whom was assaulted, at the Del Amo Fashion Center, police said Sunday. Officers and sheriff's deputies from El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach were called in to assist Torrance police and mall security when a large and rowdy crowd near the AMC Theatre Del Amo 18 got out...

Nantucket will curtail its 30-year rodent program, saving dollars and, alas, a few rats, too. Health director Richard Ray said more than money was at issue. The town is worried about liability now that the rats have grown so immune to the poison that the amounts needed to kill them are fatal to pets and other animals. “We’re not getting into the field any longer so we don’t have control to deal with the placement of this stuff,” he said. “We don’t want to see an incident where a family pet gets into this stuff.” High demand for rat eradication...

Lobster to regain his freedom at age 140 01/01/09 NEW YORK (Reuters) - A lobster thought to be about 140 years old will be returned to the ocean after briefly becoming the mascot for a New York City restaurant, an animal rights group said on Friday. The 20-pound (9-kg) lobster was caught off the coast of Canada about two weeks ago and bought for $100 (65 pounds) by City Crab and Seafood to become its mascot, said manager Keith Valenti. "We bought a big lobster, started taking pictures with kids and it worked out real well," said Valenti, adding it...

After more than 31 years the family of Toshio Kawano has some closure Wednesday. 52 year old Melvin Kumukau pleaded guilty to manslaughter and robbery in the 1977 murder case. Toshio Kawano owned Moiliili Bakery. On a night in September two men entered his place with ill will in mind. "31 years ago defendant Kumukau as well as defendant Meyer entered the store intending to rob Mr Kawano of his samurai sword set," said Deputy Attorney General Christopher Young. What ensued was a gun battle between all three men. "Multiple shots were fired and Mr Kawano was shot twice, once...

Snow wasn't the only thing that fell Saturday: so did pants - and jaws - on the subway. Hundreds of brave New Yorkers dropped their bottoms in Saturday's sub-freezing temperatures before taking to the rails for the eighth annual No Pants Subway Ride. "They couldn't have picked a better day to do this?" asked John Ocskai, 18, of Long Island, wearing a pair of spiffy gray boxers. "This is my first time. I was shocked it was still going on." Dana Sterling, 33, was shivering even before she stripped down to her three pairs of undies. "I'm cold already," Sterling...

Neighbors of a suburban schoolteacher who is accused of seducing a 13-year-old boy are still reeling from the shocking allegations lodged against the “clean-cut” woman who appeared to be dedicated to her husband and her job. “When you talk to her, she is quiet, really nice,” said Erica Mara, 20, who lives across the street from Christine McCallum, 29, who was charged Friday with seven counts of statutory rape. No one answered the door at McCallum’s home on Central Street in Rockland yesterday. Mara questioned how McCallum, a teacher at an Abington elementary school, would find time to have an...

'Do you realise how much strength is needed to strangle a man?" asked Francesco Marino Mannoia. The magistrate listened carefully. "It can take as long as 10 minutes," Marino Mannoia went on, "and sometimes the victim slips out, bites and kicks. Some even manage to break free for a while. But at least it's a professional way of doing the job." This witness was genuine, magistrate Giovanni Falcone decided after listening to such insights into life in the Sicilian mafia. He considered Marino Mannoia an exceptionally bright and honest pentito - the Italian term for a mafioso who turns informant...

DRAWINGS by Leonardo da Vinci on show at a Welsh coastal town were previously stored there in a wartime “secret cave of masterpieces”, researchers have discovered. A travelling exhibition of 10 of the Italian genius’s works is currently on display at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. But workers delving into the institution’s archives last night revealed how the images once arrived in the town on the eve of World War II, along with other priceless masterpieces. Medi Jones-Jackson, communications officer for the library, said: “It’s been discovered that the works were originally here 70 years ago – evacuated from...

A U.S. Army officer who was the assault force commander of a World War II mission to liberate Allied prisoners that was portrayed in the 2005 movie "The Great Raid" has died. Robert Prince was 89. His son, Jim Prince of Port Townsend, Saturday confirmed his father's death on New Year's Day in Port Townsend. In the movie "The Great Raid," James Franco starred as Prince, while Benjamin Bratt portrayed Lt. Col. Mucci, who selected Prince to lead the raid on a Japanese prison camp. Robert Prince was awarded the U.S. Army's highest award, the Distinguished Service Cross, for his...

Chattanooga Police Det. Kenneth Freeman will not face charges in an incident in which he shoved a 71-year-old greeter at the Wal-Mart in Collegedale to the floor after he tried to stop him while doing a receipts check. > A police report says a customer then told Det. Freeman, "You can't push down an old man" and began struggling with him. It says Det. Freeman then shoved that man, Gholom Ghassedi, through a glass door. Officers found Mr. Ghassedi with blood on his neck, but he declined medical treatment. Sgt. McPherson broke up the fight between Det. Freeman and Mr....

ROCKLAND, Mass. – An elementary school teacher accused of having sex with a teenage boy pleaded not guilty to rape charges Friday. Christine A. McCallum, 29, of Rockland, is accused of having multiple sexual encounters with the boy that began when he was 13 years old. The alleged incidents occurred in Abington and Rockland. ... The married fifth-grade teacher has been fired ..

A man dressed as a woman led multiple police agencies on a 25-mile, high-speed chase Friday starting around 8 p.m., police said. The man, Richard Famiglietti, 39, of 175 Westfield Ave., Ansonia, was at River's Edge Apartments on Sharon Road in Waterbury when a witness spotted what he thought was a half-naked woman being forced into a van. "He believed there was an abduction in progress," said Wolcott Police Capt. Domenic Angiolillo. The witness tried to block the driveway to prevent Famiglietti from leaving. Famiglietti ran over a snow bank to escape. The witness got in his vehicle and followed...

A fire engine returning from a routine medical call apparently went out of control on a steep side street, screamed across four lanes of traffic, rammed through a gate, and smashed into a high-rise apartment building, killing a veteran firefighter, critically injuring another, and spraying a half dozen children inside a first-floor computer lab with shards of glass.

BROCKTON -- Police described an Abington elementary school teacher today as an obsessive predator who allegedly seduced a 13-year-old boy and carried on a sexual relationship that lasted for 18 months. Christine A. McCallum, 29, had become like a surrogate mother to the teen, who was being raised by a single father, prosecutors said today. That relationship allegedly progressed to snuggling and kissing after McCallum plied the boy with alcohol. Then on Feb. 7, 2006, she allegedly had sex with the teen for the first time, said Assistant Plymouth District Attorney Michael Scott. The boy, who is now 16, told...

This is Peter Lynch, his e-mail begins. The guy who tore down the Mexican flag. That is his identity now, still, more than a year since he tore down — and tearing up — both the fabric of another country and the fabric of his life. It is not the identity he wanted. He never imagined himself the poster boy of both patriotic zeal and xenophobic bile, never imagined his single act would crystallize in him both what he loves about his country and what he hates. You remember this guy. On Sept. 17, 2007, Lynch was fresh from eight...

Parents upset after Merced elementary teacher asks students to shave his face Young girls say teacher had them shave his beard, then told them not to tell anyone about it. Although the events occurred in the third week of November, a letter from Principal Nolan Harris about his investigation wasn't sent home until Dec. 12. It read, in part: "As you may be aware, the last week before the Thanksgiving break, Mr. McLane had the class participate in a face-shaving activity with an electric razor as a story starter for a writing assignment. He later instructed the students that if...

Interstate 5 had been closed for 36 hours or so on a twenty mile stretch south of Olympia, Washington due to flooding. It has just reopened to truck traffic and will be open to all traffic this afternoon.

Homicide maps Kirkland Lake search never turned up body of 12-year-oldAline Wilson never gave up hope that one day she would find out what happened to her daughter. Kathy Wilson went missing Oct. 20, 1970, on the outskirts of Kirkland Lake. The skinny, curly-haired 12-year-old had made the kilometre and a bit walk into town to buy groceries. But she never returned. More than 300 volunteers in the small Ontario mining town searched the area woods and swamps for weeks. Police combed the countryside with dogs, helicopters and boats, but they never found her body. Several witnesses reported seeing a...

supersonic aircraft is nearing completion at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. The project uses the center's unique, modified F-15B to gauge the effects of changing the lift surfaces and engine nozzles on the shock waves created in supersonic flight. It is these shock waves that create the signature sonic booms heard on the ground when a supersonic airplane flies overhead. Supersonic jets are prevented by law from flying over land, except in specially designated corridors, due to the discomfort and noise of the resultant sonic booms. Quieting these sonic booms could lead to supersonic aircraft that may fly cross-country and...

The so-called "Zombie Bandit," suspected in a trio of Northern California bank robberies, including one in Santa Rosa, was back behind bars Thursday after his capture and arrest on a Wyoming highway. Click to enlarge Police have identified David "Al" Hurwitz as the "Zombie Bandit." A description of his car and information leading to Wyoming sealed the suspected robber's fate, authorities said. A Wyoming state trooper stopped David Alan "Al" Hurwitz on Interstate 80 in Laramie just 30 minutes after authorities investigating a Medford bank robbery sent a vehicle description to Wyoming authorities, a Medford police lieutenant said. "It really...

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) allowed that “stories have circulated that call into question President-elect Obama’s citizenship” and that lawsuits, of which he’d checked the status, were pending. “Senate ethics rules preclude me from becoming personally involved in pending litigation. I sincerely hope this matter can be fully and promptly resolved by the courts.”

Musician Chris Llewellyn was among those who sprang into action after a man shoved a flight attendant and tried to open an exit door. Chris Llewellyn was staring out the window of Delta Airlines Flight 110, watching the landscape of Los Angeles rise up toward the plane, when he heard the screams of a male flight attendant: "Help me! Help me!" Turning quickly, he saw that a passenger had pushed the attendant to the floor and was trying to open the rear emergency exit. Chris Llewellyn Video: Passengers take down man..."Don't come near me," the man warned. "I have a...

It's a cool morning, but each of the 24,000 skyward-pointing mirrors at a Lancaster construction site produces enough heat to make passersby shield their faces. That heat, when aimed at a set of boilers atop 200-foot towers, will produce five megawatts of electricity - enough to power up to 4,000 homes, according to eSolar, the company building this small solar-thermal power plant south of Avenue G. It's the first such power plant built in the United States since 1981. "This small site will eliminate hundreds and thousands of barrels of oil," said 5th District County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, "It...

Five Metrolink passengers suffered what authorities described as minor injuries Wednesday after a train en route from Lancaster to Los Angeles Union Station struck a trailer pulled by a truck that had stalled at a railway crossing. The truck driver, who had no license or identification, was arrested shortly after the crash, said Deputy David Royston of Lancaster's Traffic Detail. The driver and a companion tried to flag down the approaching train after the truck stalled. The engineer braked but could not stop in time. Deputies said the train was traveling south at 70 mph when officials saw the truck...

PASADENA - A woman shot and killed a raccoon that was fighting with her pit bull terrier, police said. Pasadena police Lt. Randell Taylor said neighbors called authorities to report a shot fired in the 600 block of Las Robles Avenue at about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. When police arrived, they learned a large raccoon had attacked a resident's dog. "She got a shovel and hit the raccoon about 15 times," Taylor said. "She shot it in the mid-section and it was still getting the best of the dog." Taylor said the woman retrieved the shovel and again hit the raccoon...

In the corner of the Aviation Institute of Maintenance's tidy, spacious classroom hangar on South Military Highway, the metal skeleton of an aviation ghost is rising out of metal tubing. The World War I bi-plane, the Nieuport 24, stands regally in the corner of this former Food Lion building on the Chesapeake campus. It's the same frame of a slightly more streamlined version of the single-seat Nieuport 17, heavily used in the "Great War" by France, along with England's Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service, the Imperial Russian Air Service, and the U.S. Army Air Service, which used...

(Cleveland) - A Cleveland man is charged with failing to control his dog…which was shot to death while attacking another dog. Darryl Smith was walking his Rottweiler named Noz December 27th in the Cleveland Metroparks Rocky River Reservation. Smith says Noz got off the leash while chasing a rabbit or squirrel. At some point, Noz started to attack a Labrador Retriever named Bella who was being walked by its' owner. Bella’s owner, Jim Keeney of Cleveland, says his dog was bitten in the head and upper shoulder. Keeney told Metropark Rangers that he kicked at the Rottweiler and eventually pulled...

Plains Justice is an environmental law center founded in Cedar Rapids a couple of years ago largely to fight the proposed coal plant in Waterloo. But Tuesday's news that those plans are off the table was not cause for celebration at the center. Instead, it has attorneys shifting their focus to the proposed plant in Marshalltown. Plains Justice president Carrie La Seur saw this day coming. "Looking at the Waterloo plan it just didn't seem possible that private investors would have an appetite for that kind of risk," said La Seur. A similar proposal by Alliant Energy to build a...

By TANYA EISERER and SCOTT GOLDSTEIN Flags at Dallas police headquarters flew at half-mast today and funeral arrangements were being made for a veteran officer who was fatally shot a day before his 18th year with the force. A funeral was tentatively scheduled Friday for Senior Cpl. Norman Smith, 43, who was shot in the head Tuesday evening in the 4900 block of Wadsworth Drive while attempting to serve a felony warrant. He was taken to Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas where he died. Charles Patrick Payne, who has been charged with capital murder, was denied bond and placed...

WICOMICO CHURCH, Va. – A 6-year-old Virginia boy who missed his bus tried to drive to school in his family's sedan — and crashed. His parents were charged with child endangerment. State police said the boy suffered only minor injuries and authorities drove him to school after he was evaluated at a local hospital for a bump on his head. He arrived shortly after lunch, Sgt. Tom Cunningham said.

CHICAGO -- Real-estate executive Steven L. Good was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound Monday in his Jaguar in a forest preserve outside Chicago, said the Kane County Sheriff's Department. [Image of Steven Good] Newscom Steven L. Good Mr. Good, 52 years old, was chief executive of Sheldon Good & Co., one of the nation's largest real-estate auction firms. His father had founded the company in 1965. Whether the apparent suicide had any connection to the business is unclear. Real-estate auction companies can do well in downturns. As chairman of the Realtors Commercial Alliance Committee, Mr. Good said...

anuary 6, 2009 THOMASVILLE, GA (WALB) - A 5-year-old girl was killed by her family's pitbull dogs in Thomasville. Monday evening in the confines of a fence marked with a sign "Beware of Dog," three dogs attacked and killed one of their owners, five-year-old Chyenne Peppers. Neighbors didn't want their names or faces on camera but said they heard the shouting in her backyard at 105 Executive Drive. "I heard some screaming and carrying on and I just assumed they were out playing," says the woman. The Peppers own three pit bulls. Animal control says one was roaming loose in...

He then sang "I left my heart in San Francisco." Crowd loved it .. A very classy way to end the keynote. Lots of good feelings .. Enough to forget about the absence of Jobs? Probably not, but I'll go and ask the faithful. 10:34 A.M. Wrapping up the keynote portion of our day with .. Whoa, Tony Bennett. Singing to a happy crowd. "the best is yet to come." Nice. I'll try to go get more photos up close of products... 10:30 A.M. New from iTunes: 8 million songs soon to be offered DRM-free. That number expected to rise...

LAWRENCE, Kan., Jan. 6 (UPI) -- A sixth-grader at a Lawrence, Kansas, school has successfully lobbied for a change in a municipal law that barred him from keeping a hedgehog as a pet. Judson King, 11, said that he began his lobbying campaign a year ago with a letter to the city commission, the Lawrence Journal-World reported Tuesday. In December, after written and oral presentations, the commissioners, convinced that hedgehogs pose no threat to the Kansas beef cattle industry, changed the law. Hedgehogs, which look something like small porcupines, are native to Europe and Africa. They were banned in Lawrence...

JANUARY 6--In a bizarre incident that will surely lead to litigation (or an out-of-court settlement), a skier at Colorado's ritzy Vail resort was left dangling upside down and pantsless from a chairlift last Friday morning.

Romero said he went to the store to look for a supplement in July, the time of year he typically starts weight training again. He went to the shelf where his usual supplement was stocked and noticed a new product, 6-OXO Extreme, next to it. Because the familiar supplement required him to take eight large pills a day, he was intrigued by the other product. The Major League Baseball Players' Association has told players that supplements purchased in U.S. retail stores should be safe and within the guidelines of baseball's drug-testing program. The union acknowledged giving that advice in a...

01-04) 19:38 PST Oakland -- BART's police chief asked for patience from the public on Sunday after video footage surfaced showing one of his officers fatally shooting an unarmed man who was on the ground on a station platform on New Year's Day, and after an attorney for the dead man's family said he planned to sue the transit agency for $25 million.

Albert P. Carey, President and CEO Frito-Lay North America 7701 Legacy Drive Plano, Texas 75024 Dear Mr. Carey, I would like to make a proposal for Frito Lay to consider. Please bear with me as I 'Lays' the ground work. If your not aware, New York State is offering 1.2 Billion dollar subsidy for a chip fabrication plant to be located in Saratoga New York. We the citizens of New York, are led to believe this is an effort to bring new jobs to the State –roughly 1,400 jobs. The State has been in lengthy discussions with Advanced Micro Devices...

A couple who hadn't been seen since New Year's Eve have been found dead inside their locked bedroom with their crying 9-month-old daughter in an apparent murder-suicide. Three older children had been left out on their own.

Only two months after smoking areas were erected at two hospitals, the desire to go smoke-free on the premises will eliminate the smoking rooms entirely and replace them with smoking shelters. NHS Lothian (Scottland) will eliminate smoking rooms at Royal Edinburgh as well as at Astley Ainslie. The will then provide smoking shelters in it's phased shut down of the indoor smoking areas. The Health Board claims the action will assist smokers in quitting. The Health Board states, "These shelters will act as a platform to promote our stop smoking services, to encourage people to seek help to give up...

NEW YORK (CBS) â€• Residents of a close-knit Queens [New York City] community are living in fear after a grandmother was attacked during a home invasion. In the early hours of the morning, before it was light, a man broke into a home on 134th Avenue. Once inside, he stabbed and slashed 86-year-old Vivian Squire in the neck and throat. "She's neighborly, good friend," friend Maudise Cornwall says. "She lives there basically alone." "People around here are pretty close-knit; all the neighbors pretty much know each other, watch out for each other," neighbor Eric Cans says. "This is pretty tragic,...

DELMAR BOULEVARD is an arterial road running through some of the poorest and richest, and most racially divided, neighbourhoods of St Louis, Missouri. Some city aldermen are now trying to rename the street after Barack Obama before he takes office.